Friday, September 14, 2012

BALANCE: YOUR ROLES & BEST YOU'S PART 2 + FREE PRINT OUT!

In part 1 of "Your Roles & Best You's" we worked on defining what roles you have in life, what your "best you's" are, and started the process of prioritizing those lists. Going through this process mentally is so helpful for visually seeing the responsibilities you have in life as well as your needs so you can put fourth the right amount of time and effort into each. If these aren't defined in your life, it's very possible things feel chaotic or off balance. If you haven't read through Part 1, I suggest doing so before moving onto Part 2. :)

So, now that you've made your lists and began the process of prioritizing these things in your life, it's time to set goals and action items for your roles and "best you's". By doing this you can create more of an application//action based list rather than just stating that your priorities are a, b and c. This might also require you to pull out a calendar or journal to capture your thoughts and maybe make room in your schedule.

1. Brainstorm Your Ideas. ---> Take your lists and write out ways that you can make these items a priority. Example: One of my top priorities//roles is being a wife to my husband. I can make this a priority by having a designated date night each week, turning off the radio in the car on the way to work as we car pool and talk about life, take time each year to invest in our marriage by going on a retreat, have dinner together most nights, and get to bed at a good time so we can spend time together before going to sleep. One of my "best you's" is spending time on my personal development. I can put this into action by designating brainstorm time for myself each day, reading a set amount of books each year and giving myself a creative day here and there. By brainstorming ideas around your role, you can create a plan for things you would like to start doing in the role and how you can make it a priority in your life.

2. High Priorities & Low Priorities. ---> As you are brainstorming actions items around your roles and best you's, be sure to focus more heavily on your top priorities and how those will play an essential role in your life. Give your lower priorities less action items.

3. Refine Your Goals. ---> Set 3-4 main goals//action items for your top priorities and 1-2 goals//action items for your lower priorities based on the brainstorming you previously did. Set a timeframe for yourself and schedule a day at the end of the timeline to review your goals and set new ones//make adjustments.

4. Sit Down & Talk About It. ---> It's important to communicate these types of things to close family and friends. Have intentional conversations about your ideas and ask them to support you. They are likely within your list of roles and priorities, perhaps include them on brainstorming action items//goals for that relationship?

5. Calendar. ---> All of these goals will take time. Begin evaluating your schedule. What are you spending too much time on that isn't a high priority? What needs to be adjusted? Begin working in your new goals and actions items into your daily, weekly, and monthly routines.

6. Display & Remind. ---> Now that you've defined and prioritized your roles, "best you's" and goals around each, it's time to make that list into something pretty that you can reference, hang up in your room or keep at close reach.

I've created a PDF just for you called "Get it Strait"! Feel free to print it out and use for this process. Just click the link below to download the PDF and print as many pages as you need. The left side is for your roles. You can list them by priority and then list goals for each one underneath. The right side is for your "best you's". You can also list these by priority and capture your goals!

You're in a great place! We've defined and set actions items//goal for the most important things in our lives! How empowering and exciting! Putting our hearts and efforts towards the things that matter most and that we are most passionate about is really living a life toward abundance. This is for you to define and run towards! For Part 3 of this mini balance series we will be talking about tips on achieving your goals and when//how to re-evaluate.